Fleeing 75% Tax Rate? We’ll Always Have Paris

By Robert W. Wood – Sacre Bleu! Sky high French tax rates topping out at 75% caused France’s wealthiest man, Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, to apply for Belgian nationality.

It turns out the wealthy French asked for it. Think Buffett in a beret. As the New York Times reported here, Welcoming Higher Taxes, but Not That High, many wealthy French signed a petition seeking higher taxes. Talk about a certain je ne sais quoi.

Faced with the prospect of paying these let-them-eat-cake rates, I’ll bet Belgium looks lovely this time of year. more> http://tinyurl.com/9d4fm2k

Related articles

• Fleeing 75% Tax Rate? We’ll Always Have Paris (forbes.com)
• Bernard Arnault applies for Belgian citizenship as Francois Hollande plans new taxes (telegraph.co.uk)
• Welcoming Higher Taxes, but Not That High (dealbook.nytimes.com)
• Selling ‘panic’ on France’s luxury property market as millionaires rush to flee looming tax hikes (engineeringevil.com)
• French Billionaire Arnault’s LVMH Amasses EU4 Billion in Belgium – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• France plans 75 percent tax rate for the rich (foxnews.com)
• More than 400 1million euro homes put on the Paris market as millionaires flee Hollande’s socialist tax hikes (dailymail.co.uk)
• France’s richest man applies to become Belgian to escape 75 per cent tax rate (engineeringevil.com)

Dutch Elections Risk Muddying Merkel’s Crisis-Fighting Efforts

By Fred Pals – A third of Dutch voters in the run-up to the Sept. 12 vote back the Socialists, who oppose more spending cuts and refuse to hand over more sovereignty to Europe, or the Freedom Party, which seeks an exit from the European Union and the euro. That will make it tough for caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s Liberals to find support from perhaps three or four parties for a majority in parliament and keep cutting the deficit.

A new Dutch government less willing to pursue austerity or readier to see the euro break up might make Merkel’s task more complex at a time when the chancellor is striving to find common ground with French Socialist President Francois Hollande. more> http://tinyurl.com/9n25q7y

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• Dutch Elections Risk Muddying Merkel’s Crisis-Fighting Efforts – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Analysis: As Dutch zeal for Europe wanes, election brings risks (news.terra.com)
• Socialist ‘not tied to’ EU limits (morningstaronline.co.uk)
• The Outcome Of The Upcoming Dutch Elections Could Be Big For The Eurozone (businessinsider.com)
• Dutch PM Candidate: Ignore 3 Percent Budget Rule (abcnews.go.com)
• France and Germany unite in tough message for Greece (euronews.com)
• Austerity goes to the polls, Dutch edition (ftalphaville.ft.com)
• Dutch Socialist Leader Says Doubtful Euro Will Survive Crisis – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Dutch split on EU budget goal before vote: poll (worldbulletin.net)
• The Finn red line, Economist
• Analysts fear euro-zone capital flight might snowball, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post
• Euro Crisis Revving Up Again—Fasten Your Seatbelts, Catherine Boyle, CNBC.com

Greek Crisis Evasion to Fore as Merkel Hosts Hollande

By Mark Deen and Tony Czuczka – Chancellor Angela Merkel hosts President Francois Hollande today as officials look for ways to stave off an immediate crisis after a report due next month from Greece’s international creditors on the health of its finances.

With the leaders of Europe’s two biggest economies still at the confidence-building stage, Merkel and Hollande are seeking common ground on Greece and the wider euro-area debt crisis almost three years after its inception. more> http://tinyurl.com/8f9yqkq

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• Greek Crisis Evasion to Fore as Merkel Hosts Hollande in Berlin – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Merkel and Hollande meet to fine-tune joint line on Greece (rt.com)
• German minister skeptical on more time for Greece (seattlepi.com)
• Report: Merkel Ally Dismisses Notions Of Any Concessions On Greek Bailout Terms (businessinsider.com)
• Merkel and Hollande meet ahead of Samaras talks (ekathimerini.com)
• Greeks ‘won’t get new deal on bailout without troika approval’ (independent.ie)
• German and Greek Officials Meet Over Bailout Terms (nytimes.com)
• Merkel Says She’ll Discuss Greek Plea for More Time With Samaras – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Samaras: Greece euro exit could spark more (seattlepi.com)
• Financial crisis brings post-holiday blues to Europe (itv.com)
• Euro crisis sows division for Dutch, Scotsman.com
• Grexit looms as euro crisis returns, Paul Ames, GlobalPost
• Italy – Factors to watch on Aug 23
• European Crisis Monitor, The Big Picture
• Tempted, Angela? Economist

Merkel Outflanked in Crisis Summit as Hollande Backs Italy-Spain

By James G. Neuger and Helene Fouquet – French President Francois Hollande put French endorsement of a German-inspired deficit-control treaty on hold, and Italy and Spain withheld approval of a 120 billion-euro ($149 billion) growth-boosting package unless Germany authorizes steps to calm their bond markets.

By provoking an open breach with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the new French leader overturned the austerity-first consensus that has dominated the debt-crisis response and risked fracturing the Berlin-Paris alliance that built the European Union and euro. more> http://tinyurl.com/6lpxfgb

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• Merkel rebuffs pleas for debt action on summit eve (theneteconomy.wordpress.com)
• Debt crisis: Germany caves in over bond buying, bank aid after Italy and Spain … – Telegraph.co.uk (telegraph.co.uk)
• EU Leaders Ease Debt-Crisis Rules on Spain – Businessweek (businessweek.com)

Austerity, Growth, and the U.S. Campaign

Council on Foreign Relations – Romney seems to be already aligning with House Republicans, such as Rep. Paul Ryan, who argue that budget cuts to entitlements and tax cuts are the combination of policies needed to reduce U.S. debt and kick-start the slumping economy.

The approach underscores the philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats. The former tend to favor the strict austerity approach being mandated by German and EU leaders. President Obama and other Democrats, meanwhile, tend to argue for more stimulus to generate growth in the short term, while arguing for a long-term plan to reduce deficits and the debt—similar to that advocated by French president-elect Francois Hollande. more> http://tinyurl.com/8yq9ery

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• Romney Embraces Growth, Leaving Austerity To Europe (huffingtonpost.com)
• What austerity? Europe’s borrow-and-spend train rolls on (theglobeandmail.com)
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• Mitt’s ad: Keystone, taxes, Obamacare, Alexander Burns, POLITICO.com
• G.O.P. ‘Super PAC’ Weighs Hard-Line Attack on Obama, Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg, NYTimes.com